Method and apparatus for selecting checks



0d. 22, 1929. H, E, wu z c ET AL 1,732,826

METHOD AND APIARATUS FOR SELECTING CHECKS Filed Ap 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Oct. 22, 1929. WURZBACH ET AL METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SELECTING CHECKS Filed April 29, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEYJ? Patented Oct. 22, 1929 UNITED STATES QPATENT oFFwr:-

HUGH E 'WURZIBACH AND LESLIE H. WADSWORTH, OF MAG-NA UTAH, ASSIGNORS 1'0 THE SELECTOR, CORPORATION, 01! SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH, A CORPORATION OF UTAH Application filed April 28 Thisinventioh relates to the selection of coins or checks having certain properties from coins or checks having other properties, and is intended particularly for use in connection with vending machines or other coin controlled apparatus, for the purpose of preventing fraudulent manipulation of such apparatus by insertion therein ofslugs or of any checks or "coins other than those by which the apparatus is intended to be operated.

The principal object of this invention is to provide a novel method and apparatus for check selection, having. a high property of selectivity, so as to positively separate checks having certain desired properties from checks having other properties, regardless of the size, shape or composition of such other checks. I

A further object of the invention is to rovide a compact selecting apparatus com ining all the necessary elements to effect the selective'operation without the'use of moving arts. Y P A further object of the invention is to provide a simple, rugged device that may be manufactured at low cost.

' A further object of the invention is to provide a selecting apparatus which can easily be made small enough, so as to be applicable to small vending machines.

A further object of the inventiorf is to provide a selectin apparatus having means for adjustment of a certain elenient thereof, whose position exercises a critical efiect on the selective operation, whereby such adjustment enables theapparatus to be arranged for selection ofchecks of any desired properties.

A further objectof the invention is to pro vide for successive selective actions on the checks, one of said actions being based on the resilience of the check, and the next succeeding action being based on the combined effect of the influence of said resilience-testing action and check.

A further object of the invention is to also of the electrical conductivity of the provide for separation of para-magnetic checks prior to the selective actions above mentioned, so as to prevent clogging, by such para-magnetic checks, of the part of the ap- M ETEOD AND APPABATUS EOR SELECTING CHECKS 1929. Seirial No. 358,905.

paratus in which the selective action based on electrical conductivity is carried outyas hereinafter explained.

The method of selecting checks according to this invention comprises essentially deliverlng the check to be tested so as to strike against an impact member, whose impact face is inclined with respect to the direction of impact, so as to cause said checks to rebound therefrom in a trajectory dependent upon its resilience, maintaining a zone of concentrated magnetic flux in a position to be traversed by checks rebounding in a certain trajectory, whereby checks rebounding in other trajectories either fail to pass through said magnetic flux or do notpass squarely through the center thereof, said magnetic flux serving to modify the velocity or direction of motion of the checks in accordance with the combined effects of the electrical conductivity of the check and the manner in which the trajectory of the check cuts, or fails to out, the zone of magnetic flux, and selectively separating the checks according to the trajectories followed thereby after such rebound and before or after passage through the zone of magnetic ux. r

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the check is caused to move in an inclined chute or passage and then de-v livered in 'a' free non-vertical trajectory toward the impact means; Furthermore, the inclined chute or passage is preferably sufficiently inclined from the vertical to cause the check to roll upon the lower wall thereof, so that a check delivered therefrom toward the impact means is always caused to rotate in the same direction, such uniform direction of rotation being maintained at'the time of rebound and during the subsequent passage through the magnetic flux, thus insuring uniformity of selective action in all cases. The invention, however, is not restricted to the delivery of the checks through an inclined passage and in a free non; vertical trajectory upon the impact means, and in some cases the check may simply be allowed to fall vertically upon an impact nember having a suitably inclined upper ace.

- checks were permitted to strike the impact means and rebound through the zone of concentrated magnetic flux, the arresting or retarding effect of such magnetic flux thereon might be sufficient to actually stop the check and hold the same in said zone of magnetic flux, thus clogging the apparatus and preventing its subsequent operation in proper manner.

Certain embodiments of apparatus according to our invention, and by means of which the above described method may be carried out, are shown in the accompanying drawings.

Referring to these drawings:

Fig. l is a side elevation of a form of such selecting apparatus.

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal vertical section thereof.

Fig. 3 is a transverse section on line 3-3 in Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal vertical section of a modified form of selecting apparatus.

The apparatus shown in Figs. 1 to 3' inclusive comprises two plates or side walls 1 and 2 spaced apart at their edges by strips indicated at 3, 4, 5 and 11, said plates and spacing strips being secured together in any suitable manner and cooperating to define a chute or passage means of a thickness only slightly greater than that of the checks to be passed therethrough. A permanent magnet 6 is provided with a thin pole member 7 connected to one of the poles thereof and mounted between the side walls 1 and 2. The inner face 7 of pole member. 7 is spaced from the strip 3 sufl'iciently to permit passage of a check therebetween. Above the polemember 7 is placed a guide member 8 whose upper face 9 is inclined downwardly toward the inner face of the pole member 7. Said upper face of guide member 8 is spaced from a similarly inclined portion 3 of the strip 3 sufliciently to permit passage of a check therebetween, and a check receiving opening 10 is provided at the upper end of the passage thus defined. The strip 3 is also provided with a shoulder 3' for deflecting checks moving in said passage and forcing the same in.- to close proximity or intimate contact with the face of the pole member 7. A guide member 12 is also preferably mounted below pole member 7, having its lower face inclined downwardly away from the inner face of the pole member 7, and the guide members 8 and '12 are preferably of non-magnetic material such as brass.

The strip 5 is so formed as to define a passage 13 extending downwardly beneath the pole member 7 and an inclined passage 11 extending downwardly and rearwardly therefrom, and is provided with a shoulder 15 dividing said passages, said shoulder being so positioned with respect to pole memher 7 and opposing strip 3 that checks or non-magnetic material, unaffected by said pole member, will pass to the right thereof and roll downwardly in passage 14, while checks of paramagnetic material, attracted by said pole member and drawn thereby around beneath the guide member 12 will fall to the left thereof and pass downwardly through chute 13.

The strip 5 further comprises a portion 5 constitutlng the bottom wall of chute or passage let and having such inclination as to cause all checks passing therethrough to roll upon said bottom wall, and a vertical portion 5 extending downwardly from the lower end of portion 5 so as to permit checks leaving the passage 14: to fall in a free trajectory through the space 17. Suitably positioned Within said space is an anvil or impact member 18 consisting, for example, of a block of metal of suitable weight, and mounted in any suitable manner as by means of screw 19. Said impact member is so mounted with respect to passage 14, that the checks, following a free trajectory after leaving said passage, will strike squarely upon the upper face 20 thereof and at or near the center of said face. It may be preferable. in some cases to provide for adjustment of the position of impact member 18, and we have therefore shown means for adjustment thereof, both vertically and angularly, so that not only the height ofimpact face20 withres'pect to the lower end of the passage 14 and to the zone of magnetic flux, but also theinclination thereof with respect to the direction of impact, may

be adjusted so as to modify the selective action. For the purpose of such adjustment, the screw 19 may pass loosely through a vertical slot 23 in side wall 1, so that said screw may be moved to any desired height in said" slot, and the impact member turned to any desired angular position, and said impact member may then be clamped to said side wall, between the head 19' of screw 19 and lock nuts 24 screwing on the other end of said screw. In order to provide the impact member with sufficient mass so as to be substantially immovable under the impact of the checks, saidimpact member may project through an opening 25in the other side wall 2, said opening being sufliciently large to permit of adjustment of said impact member to any desired position.

The spacing strip 11 is preferably rounded at its upper portion, as indicated at 11, so

as to conform approximately to the curvature stantially vertically and having their upper end portions 26 and 27 curved inwardly toward the impact member so as to conform approximately to the curvature of the trajectories of the checks, and being sharply pointed at their upper ends, as at 26 and 27 respectively. The partition strips 26 and 27 serveto define three downwardly extending passages 22, 28, and 29, for carrying away the checks, after separation thereof according to the paths followed thereby after rebound from impact member 18:

A U shaped permanent magnet 31 is mounted with'its arms 32 extending clownwardly at opposite sides of the housing means above described, said arms being provided with portions'33 extending inwardly and having pole members 33, preferably of somewhat smaller cross section thamthe checks to be passedthrough the apparatus, projecting through the respective side plates 1 and 2. Said magnet may be supported in any suitable manner, as by means of brackets 34. The

inwardly projecting pole members are positioned above and to the rear of the impact member 18, so that checks following a certain trajectory after rebound from said impact member will pass squarely between the pole members, that is, the center of the check will pass substantially between the centers of the pole members, so as to receive the full effect of the concentrated magnetic flux therebetween.

In the operation of the apparatus above described, a check inserted through the opening 10 will move downwardly in the passage between guide means 9 and 3,, striking the rounded shoulder 3" and being deflected thereby into close engagement with the face of pole member 7. If the check'is strongly magnetlc, such as a check consisting wholly or largely of iron, it will be attracted by the pole member 7 and pulled over beneath said pole member and beneath the lower non-magnetic uide member 12 to'some such position as indicated at'A. The inclination of the lower edge of guide member 12 gradually forces the check downwardly until the pull of the magnet is weakened sufiiciently to permit the check to drop through passage 13. Any check which is thus magnetically attracted and .pulled over far enough to cause it to fall to'the left of shoulder 15 will be delivered through this passage, which may lead to any ing portipn 11 forming a rear.

suitable point for collection of these magnetic checks, or for return thereof to the person operating the machine. Any check, however, which is substantially non-magnetic, or which is attracted by pole member 7 to a less extent than above described, will fall to the right of shoulder 15 and enter the downwardly inclined passage 14. A preliminary separation of magnetic checks from non-magnetic checks is thus affected at this point, and only checks of substantially non-magnetic material are permitted to enter passage 14.

The rounded shoulder 3 not only serves to deflect-the checks to close engagement with pole member 7 so as to insure functioning of said pole member to remove all magnetic checks, but serves, in conjunction with the opposing face of the ole member, to substantially destroy the initial forward velocity or momentum of the check, so that all checks entering passage 14 do so at substantially the same velocity, regardless of the velocity at which the check may be thrown or flipped through the opening 10.

The checks so entering passage 14 roll downwardly upon the bottom wall portion 5 thereof, as indicated at B, and upon leaving the lower end of said passage, fall in a free trajectory such as indicated in dotted lines at C, and will strike upon the impact.

jectory indicated at F and will-pass squarely \between the pole members 33, while checks I having a higher resilience will follow a trajectory such as F and pass somewhat above the center of the pole members and checks having a somewhatlower resilience, but yet suificient to pass over the partition member 26, will follow a trajectory such as indicated at F and pass somewhat below the center of the pole members. Checks following either of the trajectories F or F", by reason of either too great or too little resilience, will .be affected by the magnetic flux to a considerably less extent than checks passing substantially squarely between the centers of the pole members, and will, therefore, follow substantially their original trajectories and enter the passage'29. Also checks having the proper resilience and following the trajectory so as to pass squarely between the centers of the pole members, but having too low an electrical conductiwity, will besubstantially unaflected by said magnetic flux and will also follow substantially their original trajectory ductivity, will receive a maximum retarda tion upon passing squarely between the centers of'the pole members, and will hence be I deflected and caused to fall in some such path vThe passages 22 and 29, on the other hand,

may lead to any suitable point for separate collection of the improper checks or for return thereof to the person operating the machine.

It will be seen that the influence of the -magnetic flux on the check is dependent not only upon the electrical conductivity of the check but also upon the relation of the trajectory of the check to the pole members and consequently upon the resiliency of the check. In order for a check to enter the proper passage 28, it is necessary that it possess not only the proper resilienc to cause it to rebound in the trajectory F but also the proper electrical conductivity to cause it to be so retarded, upon passing squarely between the I pole members, as to fall into said passage.

The rotary motion imparted to the check in rolling down the passage 14 will cause it to always rotate in the same manner at'the time -of rebound'and while passing through the zone of magnetic flux, so that any influence of such rotary motion .on the rebound or on the'retardation by the magnetic flux will be the same in all cases, and checks of certain properties will always behave in the same manner.

For adjusting the apparatus for use with a certain coin or check, the upper or impact face 20 of impact member 18 may be adjusted, both vertically and angularly, to such height and such direction as to cause said certain coin or check to rebound in the path F, squarely between the pole members 33. Said impact face may be either horizontal or inclined to the horizontal, but should in any case be inclined with respect to the direction ofimpact of the checks thereon.

The apparatus shown in Fig.- 4 is similar to that above described with the exception that the chute or passage 14, through which nonmagnetic checks pass after lea-ring the preliminary magnetic separating device 7 is substantially verticalinstead of inclined, and the impact member 18is mounted directly beneath said chute and provided with an inclined upper face 20'. Said impact member may be supported as before by means of a screw 19 and means such as above described may be provided for permitting both vertical and angular adjustment of the impact member 18so as to adjust not only the height of impactface 20' but also the inclination thereof with respect to the direction of impact of the checks. By suitably adjusting the height and inclination of said face of the impact member, checks having a certain resilience may be caused to rebound in such a trajectory as to pass squarely between the pole members, one of which is indicated at 33, while checks of different resilience will rebound in other trajectories, and partition strips 26 and 27 may be provided as before for selectively separating the checks according to the direction of rebound therefrom and according to the action of the magnetic flux on checks rebounding in such direction as to pass therethrough. V

The action of either form of apparatus above described is, therefore, to first separate paramagnetic checks from substantially nonmagnetic checks and to then cause the substantially non-magnetic checks to be delivered upon an impact member whose impact face is inclined to the direction of impact of the checks, whereby the direction and trajectory of rebound of such checks from said impact member depends upon the resilience thereof, and to cause checks following a certain trajectory of rebound to pass squarely through the center of a zone of concentrated magnetic flux whereby the trajectory of such checks is modified according to the electrical properties thereof, and to selectively separate checks following such a trajectory of rebound as to pass squarely through the center of said zone of magnetic flux and being deflected in a certain manner upon passing therethrough, from checks either failing to follow such traject-ory of rebound or following such trajectory of rebound but failing to be so deflected upon passing'through the magnetic flux.'

We claim:

1. The method of selecting checks whichcomprises delivering the checks upon an impact member, so as to cause the checks to rebound therefrom in trajectories dependent upon their resilience, maintaining a zone of concentrated magnetic flux in position to be traversed by checks rebounding in a certain trajectory while checks rebounding in other trajectories will fail to pass squarely through said zone of magnetic flux, and selectively.

separating checks rebounding in said certain trajectory and being deflected in a certain direction by the action of the magnetic flux from checks rebounding in other trajectories and from checks rebounding in said certain trajectory but failing to be so deflected by the magnetic flux.

2. The method of selecting checks which comprises separating paramagnetic checks from checks of substantially non-magnetic material, causin the non-magnetic checks to be delivered agalnst impact means so as to rebound therefrom in trajectories dependent upon their resilience, maintalning a zone of concentrated magnetic flux in position to be traversed by checks rebounding in a certain trajectory while checks rebounding in other trajectories will fail to pass squarely through said zone of magnetic flux, and selectively separating checks rebounding in said certain trajectory and being deflected in a certain direction by the actionof the magnetic flux from checks rebounding in other trajectories and from checks rebounding in said certain trajectory but failing to .be so deflected by the magnetic flux.

3. The method of selecting checks which comprises causing the checks to roll downwardly in an inclined passage, then causing the checks, whileistill maintaining the rotative motion thus imparted thereto, to fall freely through space from the lower end of said passage and strike upon impact means, so as to rebound therefrom in trajectories dependent upon their resilience, maintaining a zone'of concentrated magnetic flux in position to be traversed by checks rebounding in a certain trajectory while checks rebounding in other trajectories will fail to pass squarely through said zone of magnetic flux, andselectively separating checks rebounding in' saidcertain trajectory and being deflected in a certain direction by the action of the magnetic flux from checks rebounding in other trajectories and from checks rebounding in said certain trajectory but failing to be so deflected by the magnetic flux.

4. An apparatus for selecting checks comprising an impactfiiember, means for delivering the checks to be tested. so as to strike upon said impact member and rebound therefrom in trajectories dependent upon their resilience, means defining a zone of concentrated magnetic flux position to be traversed only by checks following substantially a certain trajectory of rebound, wherebv checks following said certain trajectory will be deflected by the action of the magnetic flux in accordance with the electrical properties of such checks, and means in position to separate checks according to the paths followed thereby, said separating means being adapted "to separate checks following said certain trajectory and being deflected in a certain manner by the action of said magnetic flux from checks following other trajectories and from checks following said certain trajectory but failing to be properly deflected by the action "of said magnetic flux.

5.- An apparatus as set forth in claim 4 and comprising in addition means for vertical adj ustment ofsaid impact member.

6. An apparatus as set forth in claim 4, and comprising in addition means for angular adjustment of said impact member. 7. An apparatus as set forth in claim 4', and comprising in addition means for ad usting said impact member both vertically and, angularly so as to control the tra ectories of re lfiound of checks of difi re nt resiliences thew rom'. i

8; An apparatus for selecting checks comprising means for separating paramagnetic checks from checks of substantially non-magnetic material, means for dehvefing the checks to be selected to said magnetic separating means, impact means, means for conducting the substantially non-magnetic checks from said magnetic separa'tin means and delivering the same so as to stri e upon" said impact means and rebound therefrom in trajectories dependent upon the resilience of the checks, means defining a zone of concentrated magnetic flux in position to be traversed only by checks following substantially a certain trajector of rebound, whereb .checks following said certain trajectory wi 1 be deflected by the action of the magnetic flux in accordance with the electrical properties of such checks, and means in position to separate checks according to the paths 'followed thereby, said separating means being adapted to separate checks followin said certain trajector and being deflects in a cer tain manner y the action of said magnetic flux from checks following other trajectories and from checks following said certain trajectory but failing to be properly deflected by the action of said magnetic flux.

9. An apparatus for selecting checks comprising impact means, a. passage having an opening at its up er end for insertion'of a check and adapte to permit passage of the check theretl.:ough by gravityand to deliver the same upon said impact means in a direction inclined with respect to the face of said impact means, so as to cause the checks to rebound therefrom in trajectories dependbeing deflected in a certain manner by the action. of said magnetic fluii from checks following other trajectories and from checks following said certain trajectory but failing to be properly deflected by the action of said magnetic flux. f

10. An apparatus as set forth in claim 9,

said passage having a jog therein adapted to retardthe passage of checks therethrough, so as to cause all checks to leave the lower end of said passage at substantially the same velocity regardless of the velocity at which the check is inserted through the opening at the upper end of'the passage.

1 1. Anapparatus as set forth in claim 9, said'passage being sufiiciently inclined with respect to the verticalto cause the checks pass- I ing downwardly therein to roll upon the lower wallof the passage, whereby all checks are delivered from said passage and caused to strike said impact means with substantially a u niform rotative. v

In testimony whereof we have hereunto subscribed our names this 15 day or April,

HUGH E. WURZBACH.

LESLIE H. WADSWORTH. 

